Make The Most Of Your Wi-Fi (Part 4)

Boost your Wi-Fi

Your Wi-Fi network might have been adequate
when you used it only to surf the web from a laptop, but if you want start
streaming HD video, for example, it might not be fast enough.

Here, we’ll look at how to increase your
network’s speed and range. Where possible, we’ll show you how to do this using
tour existing equipment.

Wi-Fi standards

Wireless networking equipment adheres to
various standards, which are created by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE) to ensure interoperability between kit from
different manufacturers.

Excluding the obsolete ones, the standards
that relate to Wi-Fi are 802.11g, 802.11n and 802.11AC. The latter us brand-new
and, although you can buy ‘ac’ equipment, the standard is yet to be ratified.
Each standard specifies the headline speed, measured in megabits per second
(Mbps).

The headline figures aren’t representative
of what you’ll see in practice, but they do allow comparisons to be made.

Remember that if you decide to upgrade your
equipment, both the wireless router and your computer mush adhere to the same
standard. For example, if your laptop supports only 802.11g, upgrading to an
802.11n router won’t boost performance, although it might increase the range.
In this scenario, you’d also need an 802.11n USB adaptor for your laptop.

802.11AC
routers are available, but the technology is still new

802.11g has a headline speed of 54Mbps.
This standard has largely been phased out in favor of 802.11n, but you may
still be using 802.11g if your computer is more than a couple of years old.

If you’re buying a new laptop, make sure it
supports 802.11n wireless. This standard has various options, with headline
speeds up to 600Mbps. Meanwhile, forthcoming 802.11ac boasts headline figures
up to 1.3Gbps. Only enthusiasts should concern themselves with this latest
standard for now.

Real-world speeds

The real-world speed you’ll get from
equipment adhering to a particular Wi-Fi standard is about half the headline
figure at best. What’s more, it reduces with distance, and with the number of
walls and floors between the router and PC. For example, while 802.11g offers
54Mbps, you’ll achieve only 25 to 30Mbps when your PC is next to the router,
and much less the further away it is placed. At the limit of the equipment’s
range, just before the connection is lost, the actual speed may well be less
than 1Mbps.

Distance and obstructions such as walls and
floors aren’t the only things that will reduce wireless speeds. Another likely
culprit is interference from nearby wireless equipment that uses the same
channel.

2.4GHz vs. 5GHz

Two radio bands are used for wireless
internet: 2.4 and 5GHz. 802.11g equipment will operate only on 2.4GHz, while
802.11AC supports only 5GHz; 802.11n permits operation in both band, and many
equipment manufacturers let you choose which frequency to use. Before you make
a choice over 2.4 and 5GHz, it pays to understand the pros and cons of each.

The 2.4GHz band has just 13 channels, nine
of which are overlapping, while 5GHz has many more. You stand a much greater
chance of avoiding interference from other users in eth 5GHz band. This, in
turn, will make your connection more stable and faster. This is particularly
important if you want to use channel bonding to achieve the highest speed
802.11n offers.

As the name suggests, channel bonding uses
two 20MHz channels to create a 40MHz channel, theoretically doubling the speed.
The problem is that using 40MHz channels reduces the number of non-overlapping
channels to just two. In turn, this means that interference with your
neighbors’ Wi-Fi equipment is much more likely, leading to poor transfer speeds
and the possibility of the connection dropping out altogether. For this reason
all 802.11n routers ship with channel bonding disabled by default. Unless you
live in a remote area, using 40MHz bands on 2.4GHz is not recommended.

inSiDer
helps you determine 2.4- and 5GHz usage in your area

The extra number of channels in the 5GHz
band means that using 40MHz channels is much more of a practical proposition,
but some experts are suggesting that before too long the 5GHz band will be as
congested as 2.4GHz. 802.11ac, meanwhile, also allows 80-and 160MHz channels.

Rarely does something offer a win-win
solution, though, and 5GHz is no exception. A 5GHz signal’s range is generally
less than that of a 2.4GHz signal, and this is particularly noticeable if it
has to pass through floors and walls – concrete is an especially tricky
obstacle.

Some manufacturers of 802.11n equipment
allow the use of both bands simultaneously, carrying part of the data stream
across 2.4GHz part across 5GHz. This increases the speed beyond that which is
available using either band alone.

Find free channels

As we’ve said, there are 13 channels
available on the 2.4GHz band. Many of these channels overlap, which means
equipment using channels overlap, which means equipment using channels 2 would
interfere with equipment on channel 3, for example. There are only four channels
that do not overlap 1, 5, 9 and 13 so many people choose one of these.

By default, many wireless routers are set
to automatically select a channel automatically; others allow you to specify
the channel. If you’re having problems with your Wi-Fi, suffering from poor
speed or occasional dropouts, it may pay to change channels.

Rather than adapting a trial-and-error
approach, you should check which channels are in wide use in your neighborhood.
Identifying the free channels is easy with inSIDer, a free utility from
MetaGeek (download it from metageek.net).

If you have a router capable of using the
5GHz spectrum, it’s likely that you’re one of few people in your area to use
it. However, if your neighbor has also invested in gear that operates at 5GHz
and is using channel bonding, you may still experience problems with
interference. Fortunately, inSIDer can show usage in the 5GHz band too.

Improve your range

It’s not uncommon to find that your Wi-Fi
network doesn’t reach every corner of the house, especially if some of the
internal walls are brick or block construction, as opposed to plasterboard.
Extending the range can be carried out in several ways, some of which won’t
cost you a penny.

First, coverage will be improved if you are
able to position your wireless router as close to the center of the building as
possible. Remember that it doesn’t have to be positioned by the telephone
company’s master socket; you could also plug a router into any extension
socket. (Note, though that you might end up with slower broadband speeds if you
do this).

If the router was previously hardwired to a
desktop PC (or other gadgets) without Wi-Fi capacities, and the wireless
router’s new home is somewhere else, bear in mind that you will need to get a
wireless adaptor or power line network adaptors to reconnect to the web those
devices.

Another option is to increase the range of
your wireless router higher up, rather than have it languishing on the floor or
behind the sofa.

If all else fails, you might have to buy a
wireless range extender and position it to cover a different part of the house
from the wireless router. These units operate by retransmitting the signal.

Configure security

Wireless routers have built-in security
features to prevent to prevent anyone accessing your Wi-Fi network without your
permission. On older routers this feature tends to be turned off by default.
Failure to turn on security means that someone can access the internet via your
wireless network, which could slow down your use of the network and, more
importantly, if you’ve shared files or folder in your PCs, your documents could
be accessible by anyone. Similarly, anyone could illegally download music or
movies, and you would be held responsible.

Details of how to enable security in your
wireless router varies from one manufacturer to another, but the principles are
the same for all. First, turn on Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), which encrypts
your data prior to its transmission across the network and decrypts it on
receipt. You should then specify a password that must be entered into any
equipment hoping to connect to your wireless network. Note that most equipment
will store this password only once then it’s worth using a strong password.
Check the user manual to find out how to change your wireless router’s security
settings.